4 . The American Geologist. julj 
At this time, the exploration of the Colorado river of the 
wis! became ;i military necessity and, in 1 s r» 7 . Lieut, [ves was 
directed to organize an expedition for the work. Dr. New- 
berry was appointed surgeon to the expedition and placed in 
charge of the natural history with an assistant. His report, 
published in 1861, was unquestionably the most important 
contribution to western geology offered n|> t < » thai time. He 
had had the advantage of his ( lalifornia work and of close as- 
sociation at Washington with Meek and Hayden, who had 
already made their first studies in the upper Missouri region 
and had brought back the collections, on which was based the 
grouping offered by Hall and Meek for the Upper Missouri 
Cretaceous. 
Upon completion of the report on the Colorado expedition. 
Dr. Newberry set out in the summer of IS.")!) with ('apt. .1. N. 
Macomb to explore an area of about L2,000 square miles, ex- 
tending westward nearly 350 miles from the meridian of Santa 
Fe. New Mexico. The report upon this work was prepared in 
L 8 60, but, owing to the outbreak of the civil war. its publica- 
tion was deferred and it did not appear until L876. The war 
brought exploring work to an end and Dr. Newberry aban- 
doned geology for a time. In September, 1861, he resigned 
from the army and became secretary of the western depart- 
ment of the United States Sanitary Commission, embracing 
the whole of the Mississippi valley, lie was practically the 
executive officer of this immense organization, with his head- 
quarters at Louisville, Kentucky. This position he retained 
until the close of the war and the final settlement of the 
affairs of the commission. While there were many who shared 
in this great work, by which a full million of soldiers were 
relieved and the hospitals maintained inefficiency, yet it must 
be conceded that the details of the original plan as well as of 
the methods for its execution were determined by Dr. New- 
berry more than by any other. The final report was pub- 
lished in 1871.* Having completed this work, he came to New 
York in the autumn of lSlili to take the chair of geology and 
palaeontology in the school of mines of Columbia college, which 
he retained until his lasl illness. 
*Report of the United States Sanitary Commission in the Valley of 
the Mississippi. Cleveland, O., 1871. 
